‘Barbie’ Sequel Stalls as David Zaslav Won’t Approve Bigger Salaries for Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie
When a movie makes more than $1.4 billion at the box office and earns eight Academy Award nominations, the studio is going to want to make a sequel. Such was the case with Warner Bros. and “Barbie.” But time is running out for the studio to put Margot Robbie back in pink.
In a new report, The New York Times reveals that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has balked at giving Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling rich deals with profit participation for the second film. Gosling, who was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as Ken, is angling to raise his pay to $20 million. A Warner Bros. spokesperson notes that there was never an agreed-upon framework that was approved and pulled back.
In a rare move, Warner Bros. didn’t require the stars of “Barbie” to commit to sequels as they only signed a one-movie deal to land Greta Gerwig as the film’s director. (“Barbie” had experienced many false starts over the years until Gerwig provided her feminist take on the popular toy.)
The Times report notes that Gerwig and her husband and “Barbie” writing partner Noah Baumbach have an idea for the new movie, but won’t share the concept with the studio until the deals are complete. Warner Bros. is on a mission to get its deals in place before the rights revert to Mattel in December. However, if the studio doesn’t come to terms with the “Barbie” crew by that deadline, Mattel would have to redevelop the IP for a new movie — meaning a new filmmaker, new cast and new concept.
Warner Bros. co-chairs, Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, confirmed the talks in a statement: “We have a rights deal with Mattel in place and have made a series of big offers to try and finalize deals to make the next ‘Barbie’ film. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far.”
Over three years, the studio has made a half dozen offers to the creative team behind “Barbie.” The talent’s reps declined the most recent offer, which is among the biggest Warner Bros. has made for a film. No counter has been made to date.
While it might seem like CAA — which represents Gerwig, Baumbach, Robbie and Gosling — is playing hardball, it’s standard practice to renegotiate contracts when a sequel wasn’t included in the original paperwork, as was the case for “Barbie.”
The blockbuster movie, released in July 2023, catapulted filmmaker Gerwig, producer-star Robbie and Gosling to new heights and was a huge win for Mattel, which owns the rights to the fashion doll, too — especially as the toy brand aims to stake its claim in Hollywood.
“It’s funny, that knee-jerk reaction in this day and age for everyone to immediately ask about a sequel,” Robbie told Variety for a 2024 cover story, heralding her production company LuckyChap as showpersons of the year. “I don’t think it was like that 20 years ago. This wasn’t designed to be a trilogy.”
That said, all parties were open to the idea of more pink-hued adventures, but nothing could happen unless Gerwig and Baumbach came back with another great idea.
“Everything went into ‘Barbie’ — and that’s how Greta works,” Robbie said at the time. “She finishes every movie on empty, feeling like she could never make another movie because she put everything she had into that one. So I don’t know what it would take to fill that cup up again for her. Or for us. I think Warners would also agree. I don’t know what more could even look like. We want to make more films that have the effect that ‘Barbie’ has.”
In an interesting coincidence, the “Barbie 2” report comes as “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” breaks box office records, because there’s a universe where that movie never happened. Remember 2019, when Sony and Marvel’s agreement to co-finance and creatively produce Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” movies; following public outcry (and tears of Holland’s own), the two parties came back to the negotiating table and hammered out a new deal. The resulting films, 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” stand as the franchise’s highest-grossing film, with $1.9 billion worldwide, and “Brand New Day” looks to reach or surpass those numbers. So, reaching an agreement on a “Barbie” sequel will likely prove lucrative for all parties involved.
While December is the deadline for a new “Barbie” movie to get into development, production on the sequel would still be a ways away. Robbie is in production on her “Ocean’s 11” prequel for Warner Bros. (set to release in June 2027), while Gosling just announced he’ll star in Marvel’s “Ghost Rider” movie (dated for 2028) and has to promote Disney’s “Star Wars: Starfighter” (in theaters May 28, 2027). Gerwig will also be heading out on a promo tour for her latest film, Netflix’s “Narnia,” early next year.
That said, LuckyChap is a consistent producing partner across Warner Bros.’ slate, delivering “Wuthering Heights” earlier this year, currently in production on “Oceans” and producing the film “Nasty,” starring Rose Byrne and Jenna Ortega, for the studio’s recently launched Clockwork label. Likewise, Warner Bros. continues to engage in a close partnership with Mattel, including a Hot Wheels project in development.
In a new report, The New York Times reveals that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has balked at giving Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling rich deals with profit participation for the second film. Gosling, who was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as Ken, is angling to raise his pay to $20 million. A Warner Bros. spokesperson notes that there was never an agreed-upon framework that was approved and pulled back.
In a rare move, Warner Bros. didn’t require the stars of “Barbie” to commit to sequels as they only signed a one-movie deal to land Greta Gerwig as the film’s director. (“Barbie” had experienced many false starts over the years until Gerwig provided her feminist take on the popular toy.)
The Times report notes that Gerwig and her husband and “Barbie” writing partner Noah Baumbach have an idea for the new movie, but won’t share the concept with the studio until the deals are complete. Warner Bros. is on a mission to get its deals in place before the rights revert to Mattel in December. However, if the studio doesn’t come to terms with the “Barbie” crew by that deadline, Mattel would have to redevelop the IP for a new movie — meaning a new filmmaker, new cast and new concept.
Warner Bros. co-chairs, Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, confirmed the talks in a statement: “We have a rights deal with Mattel in place and have made a series of big offers to try and finalize deals to make the next ‘Barbie’ film. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far.”
Over three years, the studio has made a half dozen offers to the creative team behind “Barbie.” The talent’s reps declined the most recent offer, which is among the biggest Warner Bros. has made for a film. No counter has been made to date.
While it might seem like CAA — which represents Gerwig, Baumbach, Robbie and Gosling — is playing hardball, it’s standard practice to renegotiate contracts when a sequel wasn’t included in the original paperwork, as was the case for “Barbie.”
The blockbuster movie, released in July 2023, catapulted filmmaker Gerwig, producer-star Robbie and Gosling to new heights and was a huge win for Mattel, which owns the rights to the fashion doll, too — especially as the toy brand aims to stake its claim in Hollywood.
“It’s funny, that knee-jerk reaction in this day and age for everyone to immediately ask about a sequel,” Robbie told Variety for a 2024 cover story, heralding her production company LuckyChap as showpersons of the year. “I don’t think it was like that 20 years ago. This wasn’t designed to be a trilogy.”
That said, all parties were open to the idea of more pink-hued adventures, but nothing could happen unless Gerwig and Baumbach came back with another great idea.
“Everything went into ‘Barbie’ — and that’s how Greta works,” Robbie said at the time. “She finishes every movie on empty, feeling like she could never make another movie because she put everything she had into that one. So I don’t know what it would take to fill that cup up again for her. Or for us. I think Warners would also agree. I don’t know what more could even look like. We want to make more films that have the effect that ‘Barbie’ has.”
In an interesting coincidence, the “Barbie 2” report comes as “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” breaks box office records, because there’s a universe where that movie never happened. Remember 2019, when Sony and Marvel’s agreement to co-finance and creatively produce Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” movies; following public outcry (and tears of Holland’s own), the two parties came back to the negotiating table and hammered out a new deal. The resulting films, 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” stand as the franchise’s highest-grossing film, with $1.9 billion worldwide, and “Brand New Day” looks to reach or surpass those numbers. So, reaching an agreement on a “Barbie” sequel will likely prove lucrative for all parties involved.
While December is the deadline for a new “Barbie” movie to get into development, production on the sequel would still be a ways away. Robbie is in production on her “Ocean’s 11” prequel for Warner Bros. (set to release in June 2027), while Gosling just announced he’ll star in Marvel’s “Ghost Rider” movie (dated for 2028) and has to promote Disney’s “Star Wars: Starfighter” (in theaters May 28, 2027). Gerwig will also be heading out on a promo tour for her latest film, Netflix’s “Narnia,” early next year.
That said, LuckyChap is a consistent producing partner across Warner Bros.’ slate, delivering “Wuthering Heights” earlier this year, currently in production on “Oceans” and producing the film “Nasty,” starring Rose Byrne and Jenna Ortega, for the studio’s recently launched Clockwork label. Likewise, Warner Bros. continues to engage in a close partnership with Mattel, including a Hot Wheels project in development.